Donors Honored at Anatomical Gift Program Memorial Service

Published
June 22, 2016

Sunshine, butterflies and heartfelt tributes ruled the day as
600 family members of individuals who donated their bodies to
medical science gathered for the UB
Anatomical Gift Program Memorial Service.

“Students often talk about their great teachers. There are no greater teachers than those who offer themselves to students in the UB Anatomical Gift Program.”

Students ‘Overwhelmed’ With Opportunity Given

The service also gives UB medical students
a chance to explain how anatomical gifts have informed and enhanced
their medical education.

Rising second-year medical students Jessica LaPiano and Shannon
Tierney shared what the donations meant to them during their first
year of medical school.

LaPiano said she was nervous at first and wasn’t sure how
she would react to working with a donor.

“But when we began, and I saw our donor for the first
time, I was completely overwhelmed by the opportunity I had just
been given,” she said.

“This was not a textbook I had been asked to read or a
case study I was supposed to diagnose,” LaPiano said.
“This man had been someone’s husband, a father, a
brother, a son — and, with his last gift, he chose to become
my teacher.”

“This man was my first patient. He was the one who taught
me the things a textbook couldn’t, because his lessons went
beyond pure anatomy,” she added. “He was the one who
taught me the importance of humanity, empathy, compassion and
respect in medicine.”

Tierney said it was a “Herculean task” to put into
words what the gift of donation meant to her. She put her thoughts
into an original poem, which she read to the families.

UB’s Program Largest in State

UB has the largest anatomical gift program in the state and one
of the largest in the nation, accepting 600 donations a year,
according to Raymond
P. Dannenhoffer, PhD, associate dean for support services and
director of the program.

And, he pointed out, it isn’t only medical students who
are aided. UB medical
residents, students in other health sciences programs and
emergency responders in the community also benefit.

“It’s important to remember that we are just the
caretakers,” Dannenhoffer said. “The donors
aren’t donating to us. They’re donating to the
community. The people who ultimately benefit from the anatomical
gifts are all the people who get treated by the health
professionals who learned from the donation.”

“Your loved ones did all kinds of amazing things during
their lives, and the one last thing they did was to make an amazing
gift,” he told the families in attendance, adding that the
university considers these donors its “greatest
teachers.”

“The deep generosity of the people of Western New York has
made this program a true national model,” he said. “The
breadth of the program, the care given to the gifts by the
program’s stewards, and the appreciation and recognition of
the student recipients is unmatched.”

Tomaszewski said these donations are among the most personal and
significant gifts that someone can make, and they have tremendous
educational value for UB’s students.

“A full understanding of medicine for a student is
impossible without a preclinical opportunity to be with, to study
with and to learn from an anatomical gift donor,” he
said.

“Students often talk about their great teachers. There are
no greater teachers than those who offer themselves to students
through the UB Anatomical Gift Program.”

Butterflies Released at Ceremony’s End

Dozens of monarch butterflies were released at the conclusion of
the ceremony. A butterfly was chosen as the symbol of UB’s
Anatomical Gift Program because, in many cultures, legend has it
that “if one whispers a wish when a butterfly is released, it
will carry those wishes to their loved ones,” according to
Dannenhoffer.

The ceremony was held June 9 at the Skinnersville Cemetery next
to UB’s North Campus.

Some donors’ ashes were interred in a communal grave;
other families chose to have their loved ones’ ashes returned
to them or buried privately.